Projects
Structural and morphological studies of heterotypic amyloid fibrils KU Leuven
Amyloid aggregates (insoluble fibrils rich in cross-beta-sheet structures) that spread to selective neuronal populations are a hallmark of neurodegenerative diseases and eventually cause neuronal death. We do not know the reasons for the selective vulnerability of neuronal cells, and I will address this problem at the molecular level with this project.
Amyloidogenic proteins contain aggregation-prone regions (APR) that drive their ...
Heterotypic aggregation of Aβ42 with disease-relevant proteins in Alzheimer’s disease KU Leuven
It is still unclear why amyloid aggregation is toxic in neurodegenerative diseases. Previously, I showed that proteins with sequence segments homologous to Aβ aggregation-prone regions can affect Aβ aggregation and modify fibril morphology, a mechanism that could help explain regional vulnerability to protein aggregation. Here, I will study this co-aggregation and co-deposition mechanism in a more disease-relevant cellular model that also ...
Investigation of Heterotypic Interactions of TDP-43 Aggregation in Neurodegeneration KU Leuven
Oligomerization and accumulation of misfolded proteins in different types of brain cells are one of the most common hallmarks of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson diseases, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD).Aggregates formed by misfolding of proteins involved in neurodegeneration have a common cross-β structure called amyloid, which is stabilized by specific segments, known as ...
Dissecting the heterotypic cell communication networks at the perivascular niche to detect andintercept the early metastatic process KU Leuven
Heterotypic aggregation of Aβ42 with disease-relevant proteins in Alzheimer’s disease KU Leuven
Heterotypic amyloid interactions as modulators of selective cellular vulnerability Flanders Institute for Biotechnology
Heterotypic amyloid interactions as modulators of selective cellular vulnerability KU Leuven
It is currently not known what determines the selective neuronal
vulnerability of amyloids in neurodegenerative pathologies: we do
not understand how amyloids interact with other cellular components,
whether these interactions are specific, and how these interactions
result in cell-specific toxic phenotypes.
Our lab has played a crucial role in elucidating how aggregationprone
regions drive the self-assembly of ...
Heterotypic interactions in amyloid diseases KU Leuven
Neurodegenerative disorders, such Alzheimer's, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Parkinson's, affect nowadays an ever-growing number of people all over the world. These chronic and progressive diseases are responsible for devastating cognitive and motor impairments, which dramatically condition the life-quality of patients. Several effective treatments are continually in development, still the pathology and molecular mechanisms of these ...